US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters, known as the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), began an assault 73 days ago to try and drive ISIS out.

The UN has claimed that more than 78,000 people have been displaced since the assault began; and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggested that at least 437 civilians, 105 of them children, were killed.

A woman embraces a Syria Democratic Forces fighter after she was evacuated with others by the SDF from an Islamic State-controlled neighbourhood of Manbij.REUTERS/Rodi Said

ISIS also took around 2,000 civilians hostage to use as a human shield as they retreated from Manbij to Jarabulus, a city on the Turkish border.

Rebel fighters and people carry the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham flags as they celebrate the news of the breaking of the siege of rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria August 6, 2016.REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail

However, after weeks of fighting, the SDF gained "almost complete control" of Manbij this week, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, with the last of ISIS fighters leaving on Friday. The 2,000 kidnapped civilians have also been freed by ISIS.

Civilians react after they were evacuated by the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters from an Islamic State-controlled neighbourhood of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 12, 2016. The SDF has said Islamic State was using civilians as human shields.REUTERS/Rodi Said

Sharfan Darwish, of the SDF-allied Manbij military council, told Reuters: "The city is now fully under our control but we are undertaking sweeping operations."

Civilians react atop of a pick-up truck after they were evacuated by the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters from an Islamic State-controlled neighbourhood of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 12, 2016. The SDF has said Islamic State was using civilians as human shields.REUTERS/Rodi Said

Residents of Manbij have celebrated their new-found freedom by doing things that were forbidden under ISIS such as playing football, shaving off their beards, and smoking.

The minimum punishment for breaking ISIS' rules was flogging, while many were executed for transgressions. A female dentist who treated men was publicly beheaded, the UN said in a report in 2014.

A man cuts the beard of a civilian who was evacuated with others by the Syria Democratic Forces fighters from an Islamic State-controlled neighbourhood of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate. The SDF has said Islamic State was using civilians as human shields.REUTERS/Rodi Said

Reuters reports one woman told the fighters who had liberated her: "You are our children, you are our heroes, you are the blood of our hearts, you are our eyes. Go out, Daesh [Arabic name for IS]!"

Another apparently screamed: "I feel joy and [it is like a] dream I am dreaming. I cannot believe it, I cannot believe it. Things I saw no one saw," before fainting.

A woman reacts as she sits with a child after they were evacuated with others by the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters from an Islamic State-controlled neighbourhood of Manbij, in Aleppo Governorate, Syria, August 12, 2016. The SDF has said Islamic State was using civilians as human shields.REUTERS/Rodi Said